Reborn as a Noble's Son

Upon listening to Zhou Chen’s words, Nie Zhenbang’s face darkened. Indeed, it still wasn’t quite two o’clock. To be accurate, Zhou Chen did arrive right at two when he walked in. However, Zhou Chen’s attitude frustrated Nie Zhenbang immensely. Zhou Chen’s arrival to take a position in Xinli City? Nie Zhenbang could tolerate that, biding his time, especially under current circumstances. Showing off too wildly wouldn’t do any good. Right now, the reactions of the Dong and Yang families remained unclear, the patriarch’s fury had not yet subsided. Nie Zhenbang felt somewhat fearful. That was the real reason Nie Zhenbang was swallowing his pride.

But if only Zhou Chen would behave properly and mind his manners. What a coincidence it was that he calculated his arrival time so perfectly. He wasn’t far away, he was only inspecting Daming Township, a half-hour drive away. Qu Feng had phoned to notify him before twelve o’clock, and it took him two hours to get back? Clearly, Zhou Chen was demonstrating his authority. The continuous rural inspections these few days were likely because he assumed his election as mayor was a done deal. Zhou Chen’s tail was starting to show.

Nie Zhenbang’s face darkened, then he snapped disrespectfully, “Vice Mayor Zhou, this is a Standing Committee meeting of the Municipal Party Committee. Please, try to be on time for future meetings. Your attitude — laughing and joking — doesn’t reflect the seriousness of a party member or the demeanor of a cadre leader. You are the acting mayor, how can you lead by example like this? Alright, now that you’re here, sit down.”

Treating Zhou Chen as though he was a primary school student who made a mistake made Zhou Chen feel somewhat awkward. However, at this moment, Zhou Chen had no power to retaliate. His late arrival was a fact, his nonchalant attitude was not serious. Nie Zhenbang rebuked him, he deserved it. What Zhou Chen didn’t expect was that Nie Zhenbang, who had been holding back, would suddenly attack at this moment.

The other Standing Committee members remained silent. Recently, Vice Mayor Zhou had been very active, always inviting reporters from Xinli City Television Station and Xinli Daily whenever he went out. Although under Yan Fengjiao’s suppression, he did not make front-page headlines. Yet, he nevertheless received considerable exposure.

This time, Nie Zhenbang’s anger also reminded other Standing Committee members that Secretary Nie was still the same Nie Zhenbang who could dethrone the County Party Secretary even when he was just a Deputy County Head.

“Regarding the construction of the airport. Does anyone have any opinions? Mayor Bai, you are the Executive Deputy Mayor of the municipal government. You go first, do you have any opinions?” As soon as Nie Zhenbang spoke, he called on Bekri.

Moreover, regarding the address, it is worthy of further consideration. Nie Zhenbang had just referred to Zhou Chen, the acting mayor, as Vice Mayor Zhou, but Bekri, the vice mayor, was addressed as Mayor Bai. Could it be that Secretary Nie did not recognize the resolution of the Municipal Committee?

Bekri was delighted. As long as Nie Zhenbang had this idea, as long as he had Nie Zhenbang’s support, he would dare to act. In the face of actual positions, no one would back down. With tall people holding up the sky, Bekri was not afraid of anything.

Then, Bekri hesitated for a moment and slowly said, “Secretary Nie, comrades, I personally agree with Secretary Nie’s suggestion about building an airport. However, it is a troublesome matter to build an airport. Not only do we need to apply to the National Civil Aviation Administration, but we also need the National Development and Reform Commission to support the project. I think that as a Deputy Bureau level city, Xinli City alone seems to lack something. Shouldn’t we jointly build the airport with Bazhou City at the junction of Kun City and Xinli City? In this way, the airport will be only about 20 kilometers away from both Bazhou City and Xinli City. In addition, apart from the airport, I think we should also consider the construction of highways.”

Just as his words fell, Zhou Chen sneered and slowly said, “I also have a few words to say.”

Zhou Chen as an individual was somewhat lacking. Perhaps it could be said that he was innately deficient in political acumen and leadership skills, which wouldn’t be a big issue. With the backing of the Zhou family, since he wanted to mix in the system, holding a position at the provincial level should be no problem. However, Zhou Chen had a bad habit of not paying attention to details and occasions in his speech and actions.

The scoff from Zhou Chen just now almost offended the entire Standing Committee of Xinli City. What did this mean, contempt or scorn?

But Zhou Chen seemed indifferent, “Comrades, whether it’s building an airport or a highway, these are not small investments. Even for a domestic feeder airport, the construction investment would be at least between two to three hundred million. And that’s under the premise of meticulous budgeting. As for the highway, even more funds would be needed. It’s 800 kilometers from Xinli City to Urumqi. Even a casual investment would be a huge expense of tens of billions. Let alone Xinli City, even the autonomous regional government probably can’t raise so much funding.”

Zhou Chen’s words made Nie Zhenbang’s brows furrow again. A member of a team, especially Zhou Chen who is acting mayor, instead of endorsing, he was throwing cold water on the project. This is not the attitude of a cadre in Xinli City.

At this moment, Nie Zhenbang started rethinking about allowing Zhou Chen to take office. Before, he thought as long as Zhou Chen behaved steadily and didn’t hinder progress, that would be enough. However, it seemed that such idealistic expectations are difficult to achieve. If Zhou Chen really does get elected, he might become even more unrestrained. Now, his status has changed, he has become the Party Secretary in charge of all works of Xinli City Party Committee. In theory, the development of the government was no longer in his hands. Moreover, if Zhou Chen played some tricks in the position of mayor, he would probably have a hard time.

Immediately, Nie Zhenbang’s tone became stern, “The opinion of Vice Mayor Zhou presents a realistic problem in front of us. The funding issue is indeed a big problem. However, since Vice Mayor Zhou raised this issue so confidently, you must have better constructive suggestions. Would you mind sharing them for discussion?”

Nie Zhenbang adopted a retreat strategy, first affirming Zhou Chen’s argument on the funding issue. Indeed, the funding was a significant problem. Highways, Nie Zhenbang had no solution, but there was a solution for airports. Bazhou City would contribute some, Xinli City some, request some from the Autonomous Region, snatch some from Jingcheng Ministers, even if it was less, it wouldn’t be much less. Moreover, investment could be allowed. Nie Zhenbang said this mainly to see what Zhou Chen would say.

Sure enough, after hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, Zhou Chen’s face showed obvious embarrassment. As for suggestions on the development of Xinli City, Zhou Chen had not given it serious thought, as his visit seemed not to be for that purpose.

Subsequently, Zhou Chen awkwardly smiled saying, “I haven’t yet developed a complete thinking, so leave it at that.”

This remark earned him disdain from the committee members. As a mayor who had not yet considered how Xinli City should develop, it clearly indicated incompetence. This was unlike Nie Zhenbang who had, from the moment he took office in Lixian, established a huge difference.

On the side, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee Xie Yi also coughed saying, “Secretary Nie, comrades, I think that the feasibility of building an airport in Xinli City is quite high. Let us not discuss the highway for now. I believe that constructing an airport is not a difficult task for us.”

Firstly, analyzing from the land aspect, there is a lot of state-owned, uncultivated land between Xinli City and Ku City. If we use this land, at least the costs of acquisition and demolition are eliminated. This is our advantage.

Furthermore, from the construction point of view, it is estimated that it can be completed within three years, and the total investment of the entire project is expected to be around four hundred million. If the ministries and the autonomous region strive for around fifty million funds, I am confident that it won’t be a problem. The state itself has supporting policies for the border areas in the Western Region.”

This way, we only have a pressure of 350 million. Among it, Xinli City can bear 150 million funds and the remaining 200 million can be borne by both the Bazhou City Party Committee and Municipal Government and the Ku City Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government within three years. I believe it won’t put too much pressure on the City Party Committee, Municipal Governments, or Ku City.”

Originally, the committee members were taken aback by the funds amounting to hundreds of millions proposed by Zhou Chen, but after this analysis by Xie Yi, it seemed not to be that much. Immediately, Chen Le nodded saying, “I agree with Secretary Xie’s view.”

Yan Fengjia also nodded: “Yes, from the current development of the district, after this year, the financial income of Xinli City is expected to reach 100 million. For Xinli City, this amount of funds is not a problem.”

In the following show of hands vote, apart from Zhou Chen, everyone else voted in favor. This made Zhou Chen’s face look a bit unpleasant. It seemed that he had already been isolated by these officials of Xinli City.

Nie Zhenbang immediately stood up saying, “I think the matter of the airport is settled. Let’s adjourn the meeting. Today, I will go to the city and report to Mayor Ding and Secretary Liu, striving for immediate project approval and construction.”

Nie Zhenbang’s car quickly entered Bazhou City. It was a little past four in the afternoon, Nie Zhenbang went directly into the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government office building, this time he went straight to Ding Aiguo’s office. On Nie Zhenbang’s arrival, Ding Aiguo showed great enthusiasm.

As soon as he sat down, Nie Zhenbang said directly, “Mayor, I have specifically come to report something to you. Now, the development of Xinli City has reached a bottleneck. Many investors have expressed opinions. After careful consideration by our City Party Committee and Municipal Government, we feel that it is time to establish an airport. The journey from Urumqi takes too long. If an airport could be built between Xinli City and Ku City, the distance from the airport to Bazhou or to Xinli City would be almost the same, and this would also quickly stimulate the economic growth of Bazhou and Xinli.”

On hearing Nie Zhenbang’s words, Ding Aiguo was also shocked. This was a daring thought indeed. As for building an airport, to be honest, it was something Ding Aiguo had never thought of. The economy of Bazhou City does not rank high in the autonomous region. However, with the development of Lixian, the Bazhou City’s economy is also growing rapidly. But, the construction of an airport was something that Ding Aiguo had never thought of.

Now, thinking about it carefully, it really made sense. With the support of aviation, not only would the overall position of Bazhou City improve but it would also greatly promote the surrounding areas. Having an airport also represents the perfect embodiment of the status and location advantage of Bazhou City.

Thinking of this, Ding Aiguo seemed somewhat excited and stood up from the seat saying, “Zhenbang, building an airport is a big project. Now, I understand your style. You never fight an uncertain battle. I am sure that you already have a specific plan, right?”

PS: Ahem! Brothers and sisters, I look forward to achieving a hundred votes at 12 o’clock.